captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivas: on this edition for sunday, february 2: a look ahead to tomorrow's iowa caucuses. quarantines expand, as the death toll from coronavirus rises. and, in our signature segment: more from the middle east, in our "future of food" series. next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: chue and edgar wachenheim iii. thyl and philip milstein family. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosenblum. we try to live in the ment, to not miss what's right front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow

n help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. o >> when it comes wireless, consumer cellular gives its customers thehoice. our no-contact plans give you as much or as little talk, text and data as you want. and our u.s.-based customer service team is on-hand to help. www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation f public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american ped ople. contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thanks for joining us.wi one day to go before the the iowa caucuse democratice, candidates are racing across the state making their final pitces. after being tied to washington d.c. for the impeachment trial for most of the last two weeks,

senators bernie sanders, amy klobuchar, and elizabeth warren are trng to make up for lost time in the hawkeye state. not all of the 11 candidates in the race are contesting the caucus vote. but, with polls showing a tight race, candidates continued to point out their differences... >> you may see some commercials saying that this is no time to take a risk on somebody new. but i feel like this is no time to take the risk of confront a fundamentally new challenge by falling back on the liar. let's have the courage to move forward. >> sreenivasan: ...while also pushing thmessage that defeating prident donald trump in november is the priority. >> we cannot have aran adminion which is corrupt. we cannot have an administration which thinks they are above the rule of law. >> sreenivasan: last night, a was scrapped after concerns were raised that it wasimproperly administered. in at least one instance, a candidate's name was omitted, as

voters we asked their preference, according to the "des moines register," which co-sponss the poll wi cnn. the polling in iowa has had various democratic presidential candidates in the lead over these past several months, and tomorrow's caucuses are a bellwether event. but who wins is goine decided differently this year, because of a new change. newshour weeke special correspondent jeff greenfield explains. >> reporter: hari, after a year and a hf of speeches, town meetings, and coffee shop chats, after tens of millions of dollars, the iowa caucuses tomorrow will finally give us a winner in that the firstn-the- nation contests. but, maybe not. maybe there will be two winners. or even three who will claim victory. why? because of the way these caucuses work. this is howosvoters help choose their party's candidates: in a primary. you vote when it's convenient. polls are usually open 12 hours a day. you cast your ballot-- a secret ballot, of course--

and youeave. but not in iowa. this first in the nation state holds "caucuses" in 1,681 precinctand the rules are unique and complex. first, you have to show up at a given time, 7:00 p.m. central time usually, and make your e'lection openly. thno absene voting, no way to keep your preference private. hethen, you wait t how your candidate's done. if your candidate does not have 15% of the precinct caucus, that candidate is "not viable." and if you've supported that candidate, well, you can either leave or align with a different candidate, after listening to the pitches of those supporting the leading candidates n to be a prove defender of life, and marriage, and religious liberty. >> reporter: and that's when the bunal results are known. naittr tiolear. look at these results from 2016. the republican total represents actual voters. in their caucuses, they take an results.oll and release t

but democrats don't. they release what are called" state delegate equivalent" numbers, which reflect how much rength each candidate will show at the state convention down the road. no one actually knows whether more caucus participants voted clinton or sanders back in 2016. why? because no matter how many there are only so many delegates to be awarded. so, many of those voters will "" wasted," the same way hilly clinton didn't get any morel electorates in november from winning california by four million votes than she'd won by just 4,000. n you have more support one part of the state, that won't help get you "delegate equivalents" in regions where you're wea so, this time, after years of complaints, iowa democrats are doing something different. they will release the actual preferences of participants as they enterheaucuses. next, they will count the actual preferences of caucus- goers after the realignment. and then, they will calculate those "delegvaate-eqnt"

numbers. thresult? it's possible that tomorrow night, t or even three different candidates will declare themselves the winner, eating as much confusion as the much hoped-for momentum. caucuses, and go to the primary,ahen theyxdçór wouldn't first. new hampshire has a lockfá on thexdim first y. and beingw3 first with all that attentions and economic benefit is really, rely importantokçóq to iowan[ék so onñi caucus night mayr the best candidate or candidates win. ) morrow, what should hose we beware of?lpñrwha!]lp should >> beware of attempting to find a winner the fáq candidatesxd are separatedxd by miniscule numbers.lpc there's somethingxdlp that compr itto find nner with all fá

that implies. >> t other thito suggest is the one thing iowaz a habitc of doingq knocking out +. )ñáq think ift( you're pete buttigieg or amy klobuchar supporter, you re

>> i really think super tuesday in early march is going to be the key. % of all the delegates at cae quepgz will be chosen on that day. d one of the candidates is e more representative aer the battleground states that >> jeff grield, thanks so

much. >> thank you. cl sreenivasan: the deadly coronavirus hamed its first victim outside of china, where the epidemic started. cials in the philippines announced today that a 44-year- old man from the wuhan province of china di othe virus. in china, the death toll continued to rise. government officials saiopat least 304 have died from the coronavirus. umber yesterday, the n confirmed cases in china rose more than 20%, to 14,380. a new hospital in wuhan that started construction just over a week ago will admit its firstpa ents tomorrow. built from assembled mobile homes, it will provide 1,000 be for patients with the coronavirus. in an interview today, national security advisor robert o'brien sateid china has not yet acc offers of help from the united states. >> we've got tremendous experti. we've got the greatest medical system in the world. this is a worldwide concern. we want to help our chinese coll, if we can. >> sreenivasan: there are at least eight confirmed nases of corus in the united states and about 150 cases have been

countries.ther in iraq, protests against the new prime minister-designate raged today, only one day afta rival partieeed on his selection. rallied against the choice of former communications minister mohammed allawi, who they believe was chosen by iraq's establishment and ruling ite. to help maintaine order, th influential shiite cleric muqtada al-sadr, who supports allawi's nomination, told his followers that it's time toay resumeo-day life in the country. iri security forces have killed at least 500 people since anti-government demonstrations began in october. >> sreenivasan: for contuing coverage of the iowa caucuses and the 2020 presidential race, visit www.pborg/newshour. >> sreenivasan: venezuelan opposition leader juan guaido yesterday at the end of aami

weeks' long international speaking tour. guaido told supporters democracy will return to venezuela and that he will replace socia pliresident nicolas maduro. >> ( translated ): in every place where there is a venezuelan, there is a flame >> sreenivasan: the u.s. and many other countries backed guaido after he disputed elecion results last year and proclaimed himself president. yesterday, guaido said he plans to return to venezuela in the next several days and still hopes to meet with president donald motrump. fo on the situation in venezuela, cynthia arnson, the director of the latin america program at the woodrow wilson center, joins us now from washington, d.c. first, let's talk about juan guaido and his k md of world toting different leaders. what's it accomplishing for him? >> it's certainly accomplished keeping venezuela in the bternational eye, especially in europe, whicheen for the most part reluctant to adopt the same kind of harsh and comprehensive sanctions that the u. government has so he met with a number of world leaders, with the chancellor in germany, with macron ice,

with trudeau in canada, boris johnson in the u.k., and also with secretary pompeo in florida. but the big question mark, be a chance to see pridente will in mar-a-lago this weekend and guaido is still in miami. >> sreenivasan: so how much does that presidential meeting oer him credibility or a seal of approval? >> think it's hugely important in, in a symbolic sense, the symbolism, obviously, that trump is perhaps still committed to a venezuela policy, but n necessarily to juan guaido. there was certaly the hope, and even the expectation that last year after guaido became interim president, that therewo d be a rapid transition, rapid regime change in venezuela, a that has not happened. his own popularity within venezuela has gone down as people are frustrated and they haven't seen results from

this political ivfort. >> srean: cynthina, even if he is going out and keeping venezuela in thhespotlight in countries, how does this help him, or not, at home? >> that's really the key question. it's one thing to have all of these dozens and dozens of countries that have recognized m as legitimate president of venezuela, but it's quite another thing to do the political work inside the country that will bring about an end to the regime of nicolas maduro. this coming year is a very critical one for the opposit for the country is a whole in that the current assembly at was electein 2015, out of which guaido has eme, will hold... there will be elections for a new assembly. and the conditions for holng those elections will be incredibly skewed and disadvantaged for the opposition. and so the real political work remains to be done inside country, with internationalsu ort, of course.

>> sreenivasan: what is happening on nee streets of ela right now, or at least on store shelves? we have or so many months, really years, talked about the shortages that ople have of medicine, food. how'sco theirmy doing? >> well declined by over 60% since that is st a radical shrinking3. that yo iu don't see anywhe the world except in countries that are actually at and there has been now with the llarization of the econo the ability of peopss that have aco dollars to spend money to the private sector to import goods that previously th t were not abimport because of ry strict governmental controls. t it really has s a sharp division within the country between those that, on the one handhave access to dollars. and those, on the other hand, who don't. and the widespread malnutrition

of children, some peope say perhaps starvation at some point, certainly in rural areas, but also in poor urban areas where people don't have access either toemittances or to dollars through this liberalization of foreign exchange. >> sreenivasan: all right, cynthia arnsm the woodrow wilson center, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: last night, we brought you a report from jordan about how the united nations' world food program is using technology and digital innovations tyo help properl ted syrian refugees there. tonight, we contint story in neighboring lebanon. special corresponstdent chopher livesay has this report, as part ofur "future of food" series, supported by the pulitzer center. >> reporter: mohammad al masalmeh is taking computer classes anlearning everything

from how to build a computer game, to coding. i didn't know anything about computer. like, all i know is like openg facebook and stuff. >> reporter: 19-year-d rian al masalmeh fled to lebanon six years ago, after his father was shot and killed in sy >> this is changing my life. th is actually changing my life. before this program, i didn't see myself in the future. now, i guess i can see myself trying to just finish my study and find any job that will make money fome to live. >> reporter: run by the united nations world food program-- w.f.p.-- this digital skills training program brings together lebanese people with displaced syrians, providing classes four days a week to improve their english and computer litpaacy. >> partis are also given a small stipend for living expenses. d buwhs this have to do with food? >> reporter: what's the line between food and online skills? >> you can give a person a fish,

or you can teemach o fish. >> reporter: paul skoczylas works for w.f.p., which has been fighting hunger since 1961. the organization provides food assistance to roughly 87 million people in 83 countries each ar. >> the link between learning things like digital skills, learni about computer literacy, is that then you can provide for yoth own family, now or in the future. and you won't need food assistance in the future, if we can build up enough resilience and there are those economic opportunities for you. and that's really the only sustainable solution in the long term. at the heart of w.f.p.'sity is innovation goals, which aim to use technology and digital approaches to advance beyond traditional forms of providing food aid. there are 1.5 million displaced syrians living in lebanon, but erar oe noe i." country.e throughout the some live in urban environments, like this apartment where al masalmeh lis with his

mother, while others live in tents. so many have fledere that roughly one out of every four people in lebanon is a refugee. and with the unemployment rate for the lebanese theelves hovering around 25%, the government has made it illegal for refugees to work in most sectors. >> we have to come up withdeas thataven't been thought of, and that provides new solutions lebanese.the refugees and the >> reporter: rabih shibli is the director of the centiver for engagement at the american university of beirut. he developed the digital skills >> i fully believe that this program, whereby you can deliver skills, train the refugees and lebanese on these digital skills, where ty can connect to employers outside the country, with its very limedrt job opities, it's a great idea. >> reporter: the idea is that refugees can remotely tap into

work abroad, and make money for food without taking jobs away from lebanese. reem husein hajouz is a mother two, and lives here with her family. until now, she had never taken english or computer classes. do you want to use these skills here, in lebanon, or somewhere else? >> i c them anywhere. i feel very proud of melf now because i am learning and i'm knowledgeable. >> reporter: but there are challenges to the program. while more than 90% of syrian refugee households have access to a mile phone, for some, accessing computers is difficult. >): the mainte oblem i face is that i do not have a computer at home, so if i learn something at tnt cente and o come home and practice it, or type it up, i don't have a computer to do that. >> reporter: another challenge? running the program nsistently. for now, it's on a break, but

w.f.p. is planning to resume it in march. there's also the issue of scaling it up. so far, only 1,3es syrian refu in lebanon have taken these classes. is this really going to solve anythingg on a ale? >> it's a start. it's not just about growth, it's about showing whatks wor and if this works, then we can replicate it in other counies. and remember that everyone who takes part in this has about five or six people at home. >> ( translated ): "what is your favorite season?" what we are learning in english is helping me educate my children. they used to ask me "mom, can you help me with this question in english" and i'd say i don't know how to help.e now i am a provide my children with what they need. not evything, but the simple basic gs. >> reporter: w.f.p. is working on additional digital innovations with more immediate and scalable impacts, like thisc cell phone appled dalili. the app helps refugees find deals on food.

they can type in all of the food they need to buy, and it shows them where to go for the cheapest price. alhamad uses the app before doing her monthly grocery >> it used to be more difficult >> reporter: are you saving money? have you noticed any difference in the aoumount of moneye spending on food compared to before you had the app? >> yes, the aid we used to lasting long.and wasn't with the dalili app, i can get what i want and the quantity i need. >> reporter: in lebanon, dalili has more than 27,000 downloads, and re than 400 participating stores are on the app. this shop owner says sales have increased by more tha% n nce he also has access to better pricing on the food he stocacks, e of w.f.p.'s connections to wholesale vendors and distributors. what's the real innovation taking place here? apps have been around for a while. >> i e think what's innovat unleashes the poweof thethat market to serve the poorestpe

le, and really empowers the poorest and most vulnerable people to be making good economnsic decisor their families. do you ever receive special from the stores? >> reporter: w.f.p. holds regular focus groups with refugees to ask them what is and isn't working, so it can make adjustments to the app accordingly. >> we just want to a n you about so features we might be adding. >> reporter: dalili originally launched in lebanon, and the ssons learned here helped w.f.p. launch the app in kya skoczylas says dalili highlights wafoodr change in the aid has evolved.e ov in thpast, you always saw big food parcelsg from food surplus countries on ships, airdrops, on trus, moving to places that had famines, that had food insecurity, warzones, afr rthquakes, things like that. and the new way of doing things is, inead of shipping the food, we're buying it locally. and tf he benefitat is that it helps harness the power of the markets which exist in lebanon to serve the poorest people, the vulnerable people, the refugees who are coming across the border.

>> this is pbs newshour weekend, sunday. >> sreenivasan: on this super bowl sunday, we're taking a look at what youth around the country are saying about misconceptyons and sters of gender in sports. it's part of the pbs newshour student reporting lab series "no labettls >> there's a stereotype about female athleteanbecause women girls always get underestimated. >> many people think that it's a man's sport, but i'm showingth it's not. >> i was like, oh, snap, you get to hit people.i' likem on the line, we're doing hand-to-hand combat in the trenches. >> i think people have stereotypes for female wrestlers that they just wrestle for attention, or they're not lly committed to the sport. >> she's a wrestler. she... we treat her like everybody else. she wrestles the boys. there's no difference. >> so, i started boxing when i was nineears old.

i was one of the few girls at the gym, but i really 't feel intimidated. i felt more... i felt speal, in a way. stereomepes somes can be clpful as motivation, to show the world what y do and who you are. >> i first started cheerleading because i wanted to learn how to tumble. and i came to one of those open practices and i just fell in love with it. y'd probabice, the call me gay or ty'pblroyba but really that's not how it is on the competition floor. being the only male on the team, it doesn't make me insecure r anything liko that. >> i feel like he's gotten the girls, you know, excited about the season. the dynic of the team's definitely increased, i feel like in a positive way. >> we, ll ditaloee,sn y'tou m k, if you put in e work, you will be successful. and we always say that to be the best, you got work harder than

everybody else. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, ihos superbowl sunday, grou day and global palindrome day. day-month-year or month-day-s year, when you read it backwards it's still 02-02-2020. it's been 909 years since the last palindromic date occurred, on 11-11-1111, and it wilbe 101 years until the next, on 12-12-2121. festival of paromes today,as a with favorite backwards and forwards words and phrases ranging from "tacocat" to "race car" to "neveodd or even." that's all for this edition of pbs newshour ekend. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. ve a good night. captioning spsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekendibs made

po by: bernard and irene scanartz. suedgar wachenheim iii. the cheryl and philip milstein faily. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosewenblum. ry to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of uat utual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: and by the cporation for puicroadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching pbs.

e?

chrie? e e? the e? e e? the the e? e e? the the e? e e? the the screen. the the screen. e e? the the screen. the the screen. e e? the the screen. the the screen. e e? the the screen.n. the tco the scr co the screen. co the screen. co the screen. co the screen. co the screen. co co co co co co co co